The Donners' Company

The Donners' Company
FormerlyDonner/Shuler-Donner Productions (1986–1999)
Company typePrivate
IndustryFilm production
Founded1986; 38 years ago (1986)
Founders
Headquarters4000 Warner Boulevard,
Burbank, California
,
United States
OwnerLauren Shuler Donner

The Donners' Company (formerly Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions) is the film production company of director Richard Donner and producer Lauren Shuler Donner, founded in 1986. It is notable for the Free Willy and X-Men franchises.

History

Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions

In 1986, film producer Lauren Shuler Donner announced that she would end her production deal with The Walt Disney Studios.[1] She announced that she would merge with Warner Bros.-based Richard Donner Productions, to create Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions, to be operating on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California.[1]

The first film released under the name was Radio Flyer, which was directed by Richard Donner, produced by Lauren, and it was released by Columbia Pictures in 1992.[2] It flopped at the box office.[3]

The banner made its first major success in 1993 with box office hits Dave and Free Willy. The latter's success spawned two sequels, and a television series.[4] That year, the studio and Warner Bros. originally made a deal with Hammer Film Productions to produce remakes based on its existing UK film properties.[5]

In 1994, the company produced its first television project, an animated adaptation of Free Willy; it aired on ABC for two seasons.[6]

The Donners' Company

In 1999, it was announced that Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions would be renamed to the better-sounding name The Donners' Company. On April 4, 2000, it signed a deal with NBC Studios to produce shows for the NBC television network.[7]

That same year, the company scored a major success with X-Men, which was an instant box office hit, grossing over $296.8 million worldwide.[8]

In 2001, The Donners' Company signed a deal with Winchester Films to produce its feature films from its own.[9]

More recently, the company was producing two X-Men series for television, including Legion on FX, and The Gifted on Fox. In 2019, the latter was cancelled months before the former concluded its third and final season.[10][11]

Richard Donner died on July 5, 2021. He was 91.[12]

Filmography

1990s

Year Title Director Distributor Notes Budget Gross (worldwide)
1992 Radio Flyer Richard Donner Columbia Pictures first film; co-production with Stonebridge Entertainment $35 million $4.6 million
1993 Dave Ivan Reitman Warner Bros. co-production with Northern Lights Entertainment $28 million $63.3 million
Free Willy Simon Wincer co-production with Le Studio Canal+, Regency Enterprises and Alcor Films $20 million $153.6 million
1994 Maverick Richard Donner co-production with Icon Productions $75 million $183 million
1995 Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home Dwight Little as Shuler-Donner/Donner; co-production with Le Studio Canal+., Regency Enterprises and Alcor Films $31 million $30 million
Assassins Richard Donner co-production with Silver Pictures $50 million $83.3 million
1997 Volcano Mick Jackson 20th Century Fox as Shuler Donner/Donner; co-production with Fox 2000 Pictures and Moritz Original $90 million $122.8 million
Free Willy 3: The Rescue Sam Pillsbury Warner Bros. as Shuler Donner/Donner; co-production with Regency Enterprises N/A $3.4 million
Conspiracy Theory Richard Donner as Shuler Donner/Donner Productions; last film released under Donner/Shuler-Donner insignia; co-production with Silver Pictures $80 million $137 million
1998 Bulworth Warren Beatty 20th Century Fox uncredited; co-production with Mulholland Productions $30 million $29.2 million
Lethal Weapon 4 Richard Donner Warner Bros. as DoShuDo Productions; co-production with Silver Pictures $100–150 million $285.4 million
You've Got Mail Nora Ephron as Lauren Shuler Donner $65 million $250.8 million
1999 Any Given Sunday Oliver Stone first film under the branding of The Donners' Company; co-production with Ixtlan Productions $55 million $100.2 million

2000s

Year Title Director Distributor Notes Budget Gross (worldwide)
2000 X-Men Bryan Singer 20th Century Fox co-production with Marvel Entertainment Group and Bad Hat Harry Productions $75 million $296.3 million
2001 Out Cold The Malloys Buena Vista Pictures co-production with Touchstone Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment and Barber/Birnbaum $24 million $14.8 million
2003 Just Married Shawn Levy 20th Century Fox uncredited; co-production with Robert Simonds $18 million $101.5 million
X2 Bryan Singer co-production with Marvel Enterprises and Bad Hat Harry Productions $110 million $407.7 million
Timeline Richard Donner Paramount Pictures co-production with Mutual Film Company, Cobalt Media Group and Artists Production Group $80 million $43.9 million
2005 Constantine Francis Lawrence Warner Bros. Pictures co-production with Vertigo/DC Comics, Village Roadshow Pictures, Batfilm Productions, Weed Road Pictures, 3 Arts Entertainment and di Bonaventura Pictures $100 million $230.9 million
2006 16 Blocks Richard Donner uncredited; Alcon Entertainment, Millennium Films, Cheyenne Enterprises, Emmett/Furla Films, Equity Pictures and Nu Image Films $55 million $65.7 million
She's the Man Andy Fickman Paramount Pictures co-production with DreamWorks Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment $20 million $57.2 million
X-Men: The Last Stand Brett Ratner 20th Century Fox co-production with Marvel Entertainment, Dune Entertainment and Ingenious Film Partners $210 million $460.4 million
Unaccompanied Minors Paul Feig Warner Bros. Pictures co-production with Village Roadshow Pictures $26 million $21.9 million
2008 Semi-Pro Kent Alterman New Line Cinema uncredited; co-production with Mosaic Media Group $55 million $43.9 million
The Secret Life of Bees Gina Prince-Bythewood Fox Searchlight Pictures co-production with Overbrook Entertainment $11 million $39.9 million
2009 Hotel for Dogs Thor Freudenthal Paramount Pictures co-production with DreamWorks Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, Cold Spring Pictures and The Montecito Picture Company $35 million $117 million
X-Men Origins: Wolverine Gavin Hood 20th Century Fox co-production with Marvel Entertainment, Seed Productions, Dune Entertainment and Ingenious Film Partners $150 million $373.1 million
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant Paul Weitz Universal Pictures co-production with Relativity Media and Depth of Field $40 million $39.2 million

2010s

Year Title Director Distributor Notes Budget Gross (worldwide)
2011 X-Men: First Class Matthew Vaughn 20th Century Fox co-production with Marvel Entertainment, Dune Entertainment, Ingenious Film Partners, and Bad Hat Harry $140–160 million $353.6 million
2013 The Wolverine James Mangold co-production with Marvel Entertainment and TSG Entertainment $100–132 million $414.8 million
2014 X-Men: Days of Future Past Bryan Singer co-production with Marvel Entertainment, Bad Hat Harry, Simon Kinberg and TSG Entertainment $200–220 million $747.9 million
2016 Deadpool Tim Miller co-production with Marvel Entertainment, Kinberg Genre and TSG Entertainment $58 million $782.6 million
X-Men: Apocalypse Bryan Singer co-production with Marvel Entertainment, Bad Hat Harry, Hutch Parker, Kinberg Genre and TSG Entertainment $178 million $543.9 million
2017 Logan James Mangold co-production with Marvel Entertainment, Kinberg Genre, Hutch Parker and TSG Entertainment $97 million $619 million
2018 Deadpool 2 David Leitch uncredited; co-production with Marvel Entertainment, Kinberg Genre, Maximum Effort and TSG Entertainment $110 million $785.8 million
2019 Dark Phoenix Simon Kinberg uncredited; co-production with Marvel Entertainment, Kinberg Genre, Hutch Parker and TSG Entertainment $200 million $252.4 million

2020s

Year Title Director Distributor Notes Budget Gross
(worldwide)
2020 The New Mutants Josh Boone 20th Century Studios uncredited; co-production with Marvel Entertainment, Kinberg Genre, Sunswept Entertainment and TSG Entertainment $67–80 million $49.2 million[13][14]

Television

Years Title Creator Network Notes Seasons Episodes
1994–95 Free Willy Patrick Loubert
based on Free Willy by:
Keith A. Walker
Corey Blechman
developed by:
Patsy Cameron
Ted Anasiti 		ABC co-production with Le Studio Canal+, Nelvana, Regency Enterprises and Warner Bros. Television 2 21
2017–19 Legion Noah Hawley
based on Legion by:
Chris Claremont
Bill Sienkiewicz 		FX co-production with 26 Keys Productions, Kinberg Genre, Bad Hat Harry Productions, Marvel Television and FXP 3 27
The Gifted Matt Nix
based on characters by:
Stan Lee
Jack Kirby 		Fox co-production with Flying Glass of Milk Productions, Kinberg Genre, Bad Hat Harry Productions, Marvel Television and 20th Century Fox Television 2 29

In development

Television

Title Developer Network Notes
Our Time[15] Sarah Watson Disney+ co-production with The Jackal Group, Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Television

References

  1. ^ a b "Unknown". Variety. 1980–1999.
  2. ^ Rosenthal, Donna (1990-10-28). "Rolling Along, Finally: New director Richard Donner restarts the troubled 'Radio Flyer,' the first feature for the new regime at Columbia Pictures". MOVIES. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  3. ^ Boyar, Jay (21 February 1992). "'RADIO FLYER' IS A FLOP". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  4. ^ Klady, Leonard (1993-07-06). "Free Willy". Variety. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  5. ^ "Warner strikes Hammer deal". Variety. 1993-08-02. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  6. ^ Lowry, Brian (1994-03-17). "'Beethoven,' 'Willy' hit TV". Variety. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  7. ^ Schneider, Michael (2000-04-04). "Donners party with NBC pact". Variety. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  8. ^ "X-Men (2000) – Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  9. ^ Fleming, Michael; Harris, Dana (2001-05-14). "Donners shoot for Winchester". Variety. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  10. ^ "'Legion' Will End with Season 3 on FX". The Hollywood Reporter. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  11. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2019-04-18). "'The Gifted' Canceled By Fox After 2 Seasons; Marvel Drama Could Potentially Find New Home At Disney". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  12. ^ Hipes, Patrick (5 July 2021). "Richard Donner Dies: 'Superman', 'Lethal Weapon' And 'The Goonies' Director Was 91". Deadline. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  13. ^ "The New Mutants". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  14. ^ "The New Mutants". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  15. ^ Michael Schneider (December 15, 2021). "Warner Bros. TV Lands 'Goonies' Project at Disney Plus, the Latest Example of Its 'Never Say Die' Approach (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.